Women today have many more choices to make with birth control than they did in the past when abstinence, withdrawal, and condoms made of linen cloth or animal intestines were the only known options. With all of the reliable and more hygienic modern contraception methods out there today, finding the one that's right for your lifestyle and health history can be a bit confusing.

Birth control pills were first made available in the ?60s and half a century after, this method is still the most widely prescribed form of hormonal contraception. With proper use, the pill is 99.9% effective, making it the most reliable option on the market.

Female condom may not be as popular as the male condom, but it is still one of the alternatives available to women. Female condom is a sheath made of thin, transparent, soft plastic that a woman inserts in her vagina before sex. It has two rings: a flexible removable ring at the closed end to aid with insertion, and a larger flexible ring that stays outside the vagina at the open end to help protect the external genitalia.

But even if you've had some tricky situations with condoms or remembering to take pills on time, you can rest assured there are plenty of new birth control methods that might be better for you. such as the use of sponge birth control method.

The contraceptive sponge is a vaginal barrier method that prevents pregnancy by keeping sperm from fertilizing an egg that the ovaries produce each month. It is a small, donut-shaped foam sponge that contains a a spermicide called Nonoxynol-9. It is a non-hormonal vaginal barrier method of birth control that is fairly easy to insert.

After it is placed in the vagina, the sponge prevents pregnancy by releasing a spermicide called Nonoxynol-9. This spermicide works by killing or paralyzing sperm that comes into the vagina. A ?dimple? on one side of the sponge fits over your cervix to form a barrier to sperm, to prevent sperm from reaching an egg. The dimple also lowers the chances that the sponge will move out of place during sexual intercourse. The other side of the sponge has a loop for easy removal. The sponge is more effective with women who have never given birth than with women who have. The failure rates depending on how the method is used. With typical use of the sponge, about 16 percent of women will experience pregnancy within one year. With consistent and correct use of the sponge, about nine percent of women will experience pregnancy within one year. Since vaginal barrier methods like the sponge help protect the cervix, these contraception aids may also help prevent some sexually transmitted infections including gonorrhea, chlamydia, and trichomoniasis. Studies about the protective effect of vaginal barrier methods are not consistent, however, so women should also use condoms to prevent sexually transmitted infections.